Trump urges Israelis and Palestinians: Make peace

The Palestinian leader added that "the key to peace" in the Middle East was the independence and freedom of the Palestinian people.

The president has been trying to calibrate his expectations for peace. "We cannot stand a moment longer for the slaughter of innocent people", Trump said.

On Monday, as the Trumps arrived at Tel Aviv airport to kick off a two-day trip to Israel, cameras caught FLOTUS swatting her husband's hand away as he tried to hold hers.

Abbas asked Trump to reopen negotiations with a return to Israel's 2008 offer when the two leaders met in early May, to allow Palestine to vacate 6.3 percent of their territory in the West Bank in exchange for 5.8 percent of Israeli territory in the Gaza strip.

Let's take stock of the region. The U.S. leader likely shied away from delving into further detail because of more pressing problems he faces at home and overseas, including growing allegations over his ties with Russia, North Korea's nuclear threat and the bloody civil war in Syria. Police said children were among those killed or injured. Much of the country is now on the brink of starvation, and a cholera outbreak has infected 30,000 Yemenis, killing hundreds.

He mentioned in his public speech to them that from Saudi Arabia, he was traveling directly to Israel. But the bottom line for the region and beyond is more wars, destruction, and bloodshed. The President was greeted by an American marching band upon his arrival.

That would be consistent with Trump's final hours in Israel and the West Bank. Trump also visited the Israel Museum. But Hassan Rouhani, Iran's recently re-elected president, quickly hit back. "Iran's leaders routinely call for Israel's destruction". Today, fracking and renewable energy have diminished the need for foreign oil (and climate change demands we stop using it altogether as soon as possible).

The Middle East still deserves attention, of course.

Israel will not change its policy until there is global pressure, he added.

On the military front, there is simply no reason to think that continuing omnidirectional low-level intervention is doing anything but drastic harm. The Saudis manipulated him with shameful ease, displaying his face on a luxury hotel and distracting him with shiny baubles. And just after Trump makes the statement, Israel's ambassador to the United States, Ron Dermer, is seen running his hand through his hair - a move that some have interpreted as embarrassment on the president's behalf. New Israeli soldiers are sworn in at the wall, and deceased Israeli soldiers are memorialized there.

With a typical inane understanding of the web of global terrorism that American foreign policy has generated over many years, Trump glibly condemned the bombing atrocity in Manchester as the work of "losers". Until now, American administrations have spoken of Jerusalem in a way detached from the State of Israel.